Show of Hands with Miranda Sykes

Steve Knightley and Phil Beer are widely acknowledged as the finest acoustic roots duo in England. Knightley, who writes most of their inspired material and Beer, a dazzling multi-instrumentalist, have built up a huge following which has seen them sell out the Royal Albert Hall three times, headline major festivals from Glastonbury to WOMAD and playing all over the world, from Europe to America, Australia and India. Voted ‘Best Live Act’ by the public at the 2004 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, the jury is still out on just what kind of music they play. A genre defying mix of rock, roots, blues, country and trad, and often influenced by the music of other countries, it is played out on an array of instruments from slide guitar to fiddle, mandolin to South American cuatro.

At the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Steve and Phil received a prestigious double accolade when they were named ‘Best Duo’ and also clinched the ‘Best Original Song’ award for Steve’s punchy Arrogance Ignorance and Greed title track which has gone on to be one of the most acclaimed – and continually topical! – songs in the SoH repertoire.